Filling With the Spirit and Drunkenness With Wine

Filling With the Spirit and Drunkenness With Wine

DELIVERED ON LORD'S DAY EVENING, MAY 26, 1889,

BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess. But be filled with the
Spirit." Ephesians 5:18.

WHILE I was reading to you just now, in the fourth and fifth chapters
of Paul's letter to the Ephesian Believers, I could not help feeling
that you could little understand the elevation and the purity of the
precepts of the Apostle, as they must have appeared to the inhabitants
of such a wicked city as Ephesus. When first read, these precepts must
have seemed like an unearthly light.

We have now a public sentiment which condemns drunkenness, lying, and
many other vices which were scarcely considered worthy of censure by
that degraded people. Christianity had not affected public sentiment at
the time–that sentiment was distinctly immoral. The sin of fornication
was scarcely judged to be sinful. Theft was most common, as, indeed, it
is in the East to this day. Lying was universal and only blamed if
committed so clumsily as to be found out.

I may say of drunkenness, that, although it was not regarded as a
commendable thing, yet it was looked upon as a failing of great minds,
not to be too much condemned. Alexander the Great, as you know, died
through drink. He offered a prize on one occasion to those who could
drink the most and in that famous drinking-bout, large numbers of his
chieftains and nobility died in the attempt to rival others. Even of
such a man as Socrates it is said (though I know not with what truth)
that he was famous for the quantity that he could drink.

The stories of the feasts of that age I would be ashamed to repeat. And
you certainly would not have the patience to hear them. Drunkenness,
and gluttony, and such like were the common faults both of the great
and of the small. For while some had no opportunity for gluttony–for
they did not get enough to eat–they only failed to be gluttons for
that reason and not from principle. The Apostle sets before his new
converts, not a modified system of right and wrong, but the purest
virtues and the most heavenly graces.

As the ages have rolled on, we have seen the wisdom of holding up from
the first an elevated standard, both of doctrine and practice. We must
not bring the standard down to the men but the men up to the standard.
We may not, with the design of making converts more rapidly, alter the
pure Word with which our Lord has entrusted us.

Brethren, I am not going to speak to you tonight about the sin of
drunkenness. Many of you feel an intense aversion to that degrading
vice. If there are any here who require a homily upon drunkenness, they
have only to let conscience speak and it will tell them how base a sin
it is. If they do not know the shamefulness of their wicked habit,
there are plenty round about them who will let them know in indignant
language. Perhaps of all the sins that are rife in our country today,
drunkenness brings the most present misery upon mankind.

A very large proportion of the want from which people suffer is due to
wasteful excess in drink. You know it is so, if you are intelligent
observers. Other sins may seem to go deeper into the soul, and are more
subject to punishment by our laws. But for creating widespread
suffering, suffering brought upon the innocent, upon the wife, and upon
the child– this vice raises its head above all others. This throngs
our workhouses, fills our jails, and crowds our lunatic asylums–
yes–and fattens our cemeteries with carcasses of men and women who die
before their time.

This is the Moloch of the nineteenth century. I am not going to preach
about that one particular vice tonight, as though I would saw off a big
limb from the tree of evil. It is my custom to lay the axe at the root
of the tree, aiming my blows at the very nature which bears this evil
branch. Still, this is a very far spreading limb. And, as I have seen
the woodmen lopping the tree before they cut it down, there will be no
waste of time if I aim a blow or two at this huge branch of the tree of
evil, this bough of drunkenness.

It is far too common to this day. But, thank God, through the efforts
of temperance friends and, I hope, through the power of the Spirit of
God upon many, it is not as it used to be. And it is regarded now in a
very different light from that in which it was viewed even by Christian
people years ago.

The Apostle has been pleased, in this passage, guided by the Holy
Spirit, to put in apposition and, in some respects, in opposition, a
prohibition and a command–"Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess.
But be filled with the Spirit." He had a reason for putting these two
things together. There is a very, very, very wide and deep abyss
between being drunk with wine and being filled with the Spirit.
Drunkenness is down, down, down to the depths of the brute, and far
lower still–fullness with the Spirit is up, up, up, to the very
heights of God.

How did it happen that in the same verse, without a break, Paul should
put the two together–the prohibition and the command? There was a
reason and a very good reason, for this conjunction of things so far
apart in character. I think that I see two reasons. The first is
because there is a parallel between them–a degree of similarity amid
their infinite difference. Secondly, he so placed them because there is
a contrast between them of a very striking kind. The contrast is as
instructive as the parallel. "Be not drunk with wine." But hasten to
the very opposite extreme and, "Be filled with the

Spirit."

I. First, LET ME DRAW THE PARALLEL. Why do men become drunk with wine,
or other alcoholic liquors? There are several reasons. I shall not
mention them all, for they are innumerable and many of them too
ridiculous to be mentioned in a sermon.

One motive is to find in wine an exhilaration. It is a feast day. Let
us have wine, that we may warm our hearts and laugh and sing and make
merry. It is a marriage day. It is a birthday. It is a royal holiday.
It is something out of the common–bring forth the wine cup! So say the
sons of men. When the man has drunk what he ought to think enough,
feeling already a little elevated, he must drink yet more, with the
same view. He would rise higher and higher and higher and be filled
with glee and jollity and make uproarious laughter and be lord of
misrule for the day.

Strong drink is taken to exhilarate. And for a while it has that
effect. How some men are carried away when intoxicated! How lifted up
they are! What a great man the least becomes! What a Divine the man who
never looked into his Bible! What a philosopher the boor that does not
know his letters! What a lord of creation the loon who has not two
shirts! What a hero, every way, the coward who is afraid of his shadow!
He is exhilarated when he has taken wine.

I grant you, that it is natural that we should all wish to be somewhat
exhilarated. We like to have stirring times in which we do not lie
still and stagnant–we would have our whole nature stirred with
pleasure. We like to have our high-days and holidays, even as others.
"Now," says the Apostle, "that you may enjoy the most exquisite
exhilaration, be filled with the Spirit." When the Spirit of God comes
into a man, with extraordinary power, so as to fill his soul, He brings
to his soul a joy, a delight, an elevation of mind, a delightful and
healthful excitement which lifts him up above the dull dead level of
ordinary life and causes him to rejoice with joy unspeakable and full
of glory.

This is safe delight and therefore I commend it to you. It is safe
delight, because it is holy delight–holy because it is the Holy Spirit
that works it in you–and He makes you to delight in everything that is
pleasing to the Holy God. Seek no longer the excitement which comes
from the flowing bowl. Here is something more safe, more suitable, more
sacred, more ennobling–"Be filled with the Spirit."

I know there are some Christians who never have much joy. You remember
one, an old acquaintance of yours, the elder brother. His experience
was expressed to his father in grumbling tones–"Lo, these many years
do I serve you, neither transgressed I at any time your commandment:
and yet you never gave me a kid, that I might make merry with my
friends." Far too many Christians are of that order. Hear what they
say–"I have always been regular in my attendance on the means of
Divine Grace, have read my Bible, have acted consistently with my
profession. Yet I know nothing of

delight in God."

Now, my dear Friend, take this advice, "Be filled with the Spirit." You
have, as yet, received only a few drops from the Divine shower of His
sacred influences. Ask for the rivers, the floods, the torrents of His
sacred power. Let the heavenly floods come in and fill you up to the
brim–then will you have a joy which shall rival the bliss of those who
are before the Throne of God.

Furthermore, I have known people take wine with the idea of being
strengthened by it. There are such individuals still alive in the light
of this advanced century. Many of the best physicians tell us that
there is no strength whatever in strong drink. At any rate, whatever
strength there is in the drink, it does not give any strength to the
man. I am not going into physical or metaphysical discussions tonight.
There is no doubt that many indulge in wine to an extreme, with the
object of getting strength from it. I believe their action to be
founded on a very grave mistake.

But to you Christian people, instruction comes in here, "Be not drunk
with wine," with the view of gaining strength from it–"but be filled
with the Spirit," for the Spirit of God can give you strength to the
highest degree. He can gird you with spiritual strength–the strength
of faith. And there is no strength like it–for all things are possible
to him that believes. He can give you the strength that wrestles in
prayer, that lays hold upon the angel of the Covenant and will not let
him go, except he grant a blessing.

The Spirit of God gives the strength to suffer and the strength to
labor. The strength to receive and the strength to give out again. The
strength to hope, the strength to love, the strength to conquer
temptation, the strength to perform holy action. When you are filled
with the Spirit, how strong you are! There is no influence about us for
good when the Holy Spirit has departed. But when a man gets the Spirit
of God to fill him to the full, His presence has a mystic power about
it. Though such a man tarries but for a short time in a place, he
leaves a savor behind him that will not be forgotten.

Dear Brothers and Sisters, whether you are preachers, or teachers, or
parents, or persons engaged in the service of God in your ordinary
labor–if you want strength with which to bring glory to the Most
High–be filled with the Spirit. Oh, that we had in our midst many that
were strong because of this!

In the next place, wine has been taken by a great many and taken to
excess, to embolden them. And it does embolden them to a very high
degree. A man under the influence of liquor will do what he would never
think of doing at any other time–he will be rash, foolhardy, and
daring to the last degree. We have heard of foreign nations whose
troops have been so afraid of the fight that they have dosed them with
strong drink to induce them to march into the battle.

We used to hear the expression, "Dutch courage," which meant the
boldness which came of ardent spirits–though I do not suppose the
Dutch had more of it than the English. No doubt many a man under the
influence of drink has risked his life and performed what looked like
feats of valor, when, indeed, he was simply beyond himself and out of
his right mind, or he would not have been so foolhardy. Wine does
embolden many men in a wrong way.

Beloved Friends, we are not to make ourselves ridiculous with
fanaticism–but bold with the Spirit of Truth. "Be not drunk with wine,
wherein is riot," in order to be emboldened to do anything. But be
filled with the Spirit of the living God, wherein is quietness, and
comes a courage which is to be admired and not derided. Oh, how brave a
man is when he is filled with the Spirit of God!

Then, knowing a thing to be right, he resolves to do it, and he never
counts the cost. He has counted that cost long ago and reckoned that
the light suffering that would come by doing right was no longer worthy
to be compared with the glory of being found a faithful servant of God.
When a man has little of the Spirit of God he begins calculating the
pence. "Will it pay? The thing is right enough," he says, "but then, I
cannot afford it. I know that what I am doing is wrong. But, still, I
could not give it up. It would involve too much sacrifice."

That man has little, if any, of the Spirit of God. For the Spirit
destroys selfishness and all that love of gain which eats as does a
canker. A man in whom the Spirit of God dwells abundantly says, "I
shall never think, from this day forth, what may be to me the
consequences of any course of action which the Lord, my God, commands
me to follow. If it is right in the sight of God, I will do it. If God
approves it, so shall it be. But if it is wrong, not a world made of
gold, if it could all be mine, should tempt me to parley for a moment."

Be filled with the Spirit. It will make you bold in the cause of the
Lord Jesus. How bold the martyrs were! How bravely humble women were
likely to speak up for Christ! How slaves, peasants, persons of no
education, faced the Roman governors–yes, stood before the Roman
Emperor, himself, and were not in the least afraid! When they cried,
"To the lions with them!" they flinched not from so cruel an end. They
were a brave people, those early Christians, for they were filled with
the Spirit.

And our men and women in England, in the days of Mary–how bold they
were when filled with the Spirit! The Holy Spirit is the creator of
heroes. If the Spirit of God is gone, we are a cowardly set. But if the
Spirit of God shall come

down upon us, as I hope He may, then every man and woman here, however
timid by nature, will be able to bear witness for Christ, according as
Christ shall call him to that work. O my Beloved, for whom I long and
pray that you may be an army for the Lord, "Be filled with the Spirit."

Wine has been also taken in large quantities for the destruction of
pain, for the drowning of misery, for support in the agony of a cruel
death. Solomon says, "Give strong drink unto him that is ready to
perish and wine unto those that are of heavy hearts. Let him drink and
forget his poverty and remember his misery no more." It was an old
custom, that when a man was doomed and about to die, they gave him some
narcotic cup that he might be somewhat stupefied and suffer less.

There was some mercy in this, though truly, "the tender mercies of the
wicked are cruel." No doubt many persons have most foolishly taken to
drink in order to forget their grief and assuage their sorrow. We must
earnestly condemn such wicked conduct, but still, so it is. And the
Apostle puts it, "Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess. But be
filled with the Spirit." For that will remove depression and sustain
under anguish in a most wonderful way. Indeed, in a holy and perfect
way.

If you want to forget your misery, remember to apply for a sweet
visitation of the Comforter. If there has lately happened some great
calamity to you and you are saying, "How shall I bear it?" the answer
is, "Be filled with the Spirit of God." Here shall you drink oblivion
of the heavy trial. Or, better still, you shall forget the sharpness of
the trial, in your knowledge that it works patience, and patience
experience, and experience hope, which makes us not ashamed. O beloved
Friend, do not kick at the trial, be willing to bear it. Get more of
the indwelling of the sacred Comforter. "Be filled with the Spirit."

Perhaps this may be a direction to some dear Friend here who has lately
been called to tread a more trying path than usual. "How shall I bear
it, Sir? How shall I bear it? I never was so tried before." Seek
earnestly for more of the Spirit of God than you ever had before. He
will give you in proportion to your necessity. He is fully equal to
every emergency. His consolations can balance your tribulations. Wait
upon Him for the comfort of the Spirit. The day may come when you will
glory in your infirmities and afflictions, because God used them to
make room for more of His Spirit to dwell in you.

I am certain that if you have to go home tonight to lie for the next
twenty years upon a sick bed–and certain of God's saints have not been
off the sick bed for all that time. Or if all your property is gone and
you are called to endure poverty during the rest of your pilgrimage. Or
if you shall hear of the death of the dearest one you have–if the Holy
Spirit is but given in a larger measure to you–you will have more
happiness and more content and be a better man by reason of all this
affliction that has come upon you.

God grant that you may find it to be true that you may forget your
poverty and misery and discover no gall in your most bitter cup! May
you drink deep draughts of the joy of the Lord till you are filled with
the Spirit of God! Touch not the wine cup, lest in this you dishonor
the Holy Spirit, who by His own power is able to cheer your heavy
heart.

Again, I think a fifth reason why some have been drinking is to arouse
themselves. They feel flat, they say. Ah, ah! If I were lecturing
tonight, I could give you some of those abundant excuses for drinking
which tipplers so readily invent. You can always find reasons, such as
they are, when you want to pursue a career of self-indulgence. You may
find them of every color–black, white, red, blue and gray, at every
time, every day. The most unreasonable reasons will come cropping up if
you want to do what your flesh desires.

But there are some who feel, "I want a pick-me-up. I am rather down,
seedy, dull. I want something that will brace me, so that I may be up
to the mark." By the time the man has had enough of his stimulant he is
worse than before. Many have most effectually knocked themselves down
in their desire to set themselves up. But, Christian man, if ever you
feel dull, "be filled with the Spirit." "If ever I feel dull!" cries
one, "Why, I often do, even at this time I have come into the House of
Prayer, and do not feel as if I could worship."

Well, then, go where life and strength are to be had. One of our
Brethren observed to me the other day (I do not think he meant to
flatter me), "I often go into the Tabernacle feeling that I cannot
worship as I should. But," said he, "you always seem to be lively and
all right." I thought–Ah, dear Brother! You do not know much about me,
or you would not praise me. For I often feel the reverse of lively–but
I cannot bear to have it so, lest others should be injured by it.

There is not a more dull or stupid head than mine in this place. But I
have a remedy and I fly to it–I wish you would all do so. I go to
Him–you know His glorious name–He is the Resurrection and the Life. I
look to Him for quickening and it comes. May that be an example to some
of you whenever you feel dull! Do not say, "I cannot pray today. I
cannot sing today." No–go to the Lord to help you to present
acceptable worship.

It would be a great relief to me if I could be excused from preaching
to you when I do not feel like preaching. Yet, it would not be a
blessing to me, for it would encourage me in dullness and that would be
a curse. If you do not pray except when you feel like praying, you will
not pray much, nor pray when you most need it. My Brothers and Sisters,
when you do not feel like praying, you ought to pray all the more and
go to the Lord to help you to pray.

When one does not feel like doing the Lord's work, he must say, "Out
with you, Mr. Sluggard! You must get to your work. Stir yourself up."
And here is the hallowed power which will effectually help you–"Be
filled with the Spirit." Oh, that the Spirit of God would make us feel
what poor creatures we are, and what a great Savior we have! If He
would make us feel the love of God shed abroad in our hearts, we would
burn with love to the souls of men! If He would make us rejoice in
pardon bought with blood, see our justification and realize it–if we
could feel the Spirit of God melting us to tenderness or bracing us to
holy bravery–then it would be that we are refreshed and stimulated
after the best manner.

We, then, would have found the true arousing–and there would be no
reaction after it, no falling back into a deeper depression. I wish
that those who feel dull tonight may be so filled with the Spirit that
they will not be content to go to sleep till they have spoken to a poor
sinner about salvation and eternal life.

Once more, many men, no doubt, become drunkards from love of what is
called good fellowship. "Look," said a wife to her husband, "how can
you drink at the rate you do? Why, a hog would not do so." The wretched
man replied, "No, I do not suppose that it would. It would be more
sensible than I am, no doubt. But," he said, "if there was another hog
at the other side of the trough that said, 'I drink to your health,'
this hog would be obliged to do the same. And if there were
half-a-dozen of them together and they kept on toasting one another, I
expect the hog would get as drunk as I am."

Sad are the effects of evil fellowship. The fellowship in which people
indulge, and which they think it necessary to stimulate themselves by
drink, has led many into drunkenness. Now see the beauty of this
expression, "Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess. But be filled
with the Spirit." When the Spirit of God comes upon Christian men, what
fellowship they have with one another, what delight they take in holy
conversation, what joy there is in meeting together for solemn worship!

I do not wonder that it is added immediately after, "Speaking to
yourselves in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making
melody in your heart to the Lord; giving thanks always for all things
unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." See the
effect of being filled with the Spirit? It brings a fellowship of holy
music, sacred gratitude and heavenly thanksgiving. It makes us feel
concerning the House of Prayer–

"I have been there and still would go,

It is like a little Heaven below." It makes us sing with rapture–

"Hail, you days of solemn meeting!

Hail, you days of praise and prayer!

Far from earthly scenes retreating,

In your blessings we would share.

Sacred seasons,

In your blessings we would share."

The Lord grant us Divine Grace to seek our fellowship where He finds
it, with holy men and holy women. That among them in joyous fellowship
we may rejoice and praise His name.

II. I cannot stay longer on this parallel, I have already been too
long–now, LET ME POINT OUT THE CONTRAST. I do not think that Paul was
running the parallel only, for it would dishonor the work of the Holy
Spirit to think that His operations could be in all things likened to
the influence of alcohol. No, the Divine inspiration far excels
anything that earthly excitements can produce.

"Be not drunk with wine, wherein is riot. But be filled with the
Spirit." The contrast is at the very beginning. For it is written, "Be
filled with the Spirit." Wine does not fill. No man is satisfied with
all that he drinks. He is still thirsty. His thirst is often increased
by that which was supposed to quench it. The Spirit of God has a
satisfying, satiating, never

nauseating influence upon the heart. It fills it to the very brim,
until the man delights himself in God and cries, "My cup runs over."

Then the saint becomes like the tribe of which we read, "O Naphtali,
satisfied with favor and full with the blessing of the Lord." Wine
ministers to lust and lust is a burning sense of want. But the Spirit
of the Lord brings fullness with it and a perfect rest of heart.

"Wine creates riot," says the Apostle. And that is the second point of
contrast. When men are drunken, what a noise they will make! They are
ready for any disturbance. But the Holy Spirit, when you are full of
Him, makes you quiet with a deep, unutterable peace. I do not say that
you will not sing and rejoice, but there will be a deep calm within
your spirit. I wish that some Christian people were filled with the
Spirit, if there were no other effect produced upon them but that of
peace, self-possession, restfulness and freedom from passion.

Our friends, the members of the Society of Friends, who speak much of
the Spirit of God, whatever virtues they may not have, certainly have
this one–that they are, usually, a very quiet, unexcitable, peaceable
people. We want more Christians of this sort. We can put up with all
the uproar of the Salvation Army, if it comes in very deed from warm
hearts and genuine zeal. I will not find any fault with them for a
little noise, though the less of it the better. If your genius goes
that way, sing unto the Lord and blow your trumpet.

But at the same time, the solid people in the Church are those who
possess their souls, who go about their business, suffer and labor with
an inward peace which is not disturbed. They have a holy calm which is
not ruffled. Do not create riot, but abide in holy peace by being
filled with the Spirit. May the Lord keep you in perfect peace with
your minds stayed on Him.

The next point of contrast is that wine causes contention. When men are
drunken with it, how ready they are to quarrel! They make a harmless
word to be an insult. Many a man, when full of wine, will bear nothing
at all–he is ready to fight anybody and everybody–he cannot have his
fill of fighting. But when you are filled with the Spirit, what is the
result? Why, peaceful submission. Listen to this–"Submitting
yourselves one to another in the fear of God. Wives, submit yourselves
unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord."

Human nature likes rule. But the Spirit of God works submissiveness of
mind. Instead of wanting to be first, the truly spiritual man will be
satisfied to be last, if he can thus glorify God. That man who must be
always king of the castle is not filled with the Spirit of God. But he
that is willing to be a doormat, on which the saints may wipe their
feet, is great in the kingdom of Heaven. Be filled with the Spirit and
you will soon submit to inconvenience, misapprehension, and even
exaction for the sake of doing good to those who are out of the way and
in the hope of edifying the people of God. Wine causes riot. The Spirit
causes peace. Drunkenness causes contention. The Spirit of God causes
submission.

Furthermore, drunkenness makes men foolish. But the Spirit of God makes
them wise. I am keeping to the connection of my text. Read the
fifteenth verse, "See, then, that you walk circumspectly, not as fools
but as wise." The drunken man cannot walk at all, because he has not
made up his mind as to which way he will go. He attempts to go two ways
and ends up staggering till he falls. The man filled with the Spirit
has a very definite idea of which way he is going. He knows the right
way and he deliberately chooses it. He perceives the strait and narrow
way and he steadfastly follows it–for God has made him wise. Folly
clings to the wine cup. But wisdom comes with the Holy Spirit.

Drunkenness wastes time. But the Spirit of God, when we are filled with
Him, makes us save it. Read the sixteenth verse–"Redeeming the time,
because the days are evil. Therefore be you not unwise but
understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine,
wherein is riot." How much of time is wasted over the unholy cup! But
the child of God, when the Spirit of God enters into him, makes a
conscience of his odd moments and leisure minutes. As goldsmiths sweep
up the very dust of their shops, that no filings of the precious metal
may be lost, so does the Christian man, when filled with the Spirit,
use his brief intervals. It is wonderful what may be done in odd
minutes. Little spaces of time may be made to yield a great harvest of
usefulness and a rich revenue of glory to God. May we be filled with
the Spirit in that respect!

In the next place, drunkenness makes men forget their relationships,
but the Holy Spirit makes us remember them. The rest of the chapter
goes on to mention our domestic conditions as wives, husbands,
children, fathers, servants, masters. The drunken man is bad in every
relation and the drunken woman is, if possible, worse. The drunken man
ought

never to be a husband, but he sometimes wears that name, and then he
has a power to inflict misery which he is sure to use to the utmost.
The drunken man will often do towards his wife what I will not trust my
lips to speak of–it would be a libel on the brutes of the stall, or
the beasts of the jungle, to liken him to them.

A drunken father! Is he worth calling "father"? And it is even worse,
if worse can be, when it is a drunken wife or a drunken mother. A
special infamy hovers around womanhood soaked in liquor–relationships,
in such instances, are quite forgotten under the influence of the
accursed drink. Selfishness eats up the very heart of those who
otherwise might have been the objects of reverence and love. The
contrast to this is the fact that when filled with the Spirit, the
husband is the most tender of husbands, the wife the best of wives.

No master is so just as the man that is mastered by the Spirit of God!
No servant so diligent as he that serves the Lord. By the Holy Spirit,
our relationships become ennobled. And what was but a commonplace
position wears a glory of holiness about it. We are transfigured by the
Spirit of God, and we transfigure everything we touch. Dear Friends,
you see that the contrast is a very vivid one. Look into it very
narrowly, and it will repay the inspection.

Lastly, excess of drink leaves a man weak and exposed to peril. But to
be filled with the Spirit!–listen to what comes of it according to the
tenth verse of the next chapter–"Finally, my Brethren, be strong in
the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God,
that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we
wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities, against
powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against
spiritual wickedness in high places.

"Therefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that you may be able
to withstand in the evil day and having done all, to stand. Stand
therefore, having your loins girt about with truth." When filled with
the Spirit the man is no longer naked, like the drunkard. He no longer
lies upon the ground in danger as one overcome with wine. He is no
longer open to the attack of adversaries, as one who sleeps through
strong drink. God has made him strong and armed him–and now he goes
forth to fight in the service of his Master. I think that you will see
the contrast. It is as evident as the parallel.

I shall keep you no longer except to say this. My beloved Christian
Friends, our heart's desire is that the members of this Church and,
indeed, all the members of Christ's mystical body, should be filled
with the Spirit. Oh, that you may come absolutely under the sway of the
Holy Spirit and may abide under His most powerful inspirations! Do you
ask how this is to be? First, reverently regard Him. Worship Him. Speak
not of the Holy Spirit as "it." Talk not of the Third Person of the
adorable Trinity as an influence. He is very God of very God. God has
guarded the sanctity of the Holy Spirit by causing a certain sin to be
especially condemned and unpardonable–the sin against the Holy Spirit.
Honor Him much, then–worship Him and adore Him and look to Him for
help.

Next, do not grieve Him. If there is anything that would grieve the
Holy Spirit, let it grieve you, so that you may keep clear of it. Put
away every thought, idea, principle and act that is not agreeable to
His mind. Neither live in sin, nor trifle with evil, nor fall into
error, nor neglect the reading of the Word of God, nor fail to obey the
commands of the Lord. Do not grieve the Comforter but welcome Him as
your best Friend. Open your heart to His influences. Watch each day to
hear His monitions. Pray every morning, "Holy Spirit, speak with me,
bedew me, enlighten me, set me on fire, dwell in me." And during the
day lament to yourself if you do not feel the Spirit of God moving in
you and ask why it is. "Has He left me? Is He grieved with me?" Say–

"Return, O holy Dove! return,

Sweet Messenger of rest!

I hate the sins that made You mourn,

And drove You from my breast." As you welcome Him when He comes, so be
fit for Him to come to you and dwell in you. Be clean, for He is pure.
Do not expect the Holy Spirit to dwell in a foul chamber. You cannot
make that chamber like Solomon's temple, wherein the cedar wood was
overlaid with pure gold. But you can take care that it is well
cleansed. Only the pure in heart shall see God. Oh, for a clean life, a
clean tongue, a clean hand, a clean ear, a clean eye, a clean heart!
God give you these and then you shall be ready for the Spirit of God to
dwell in you.

And when He does come, learn this thing. If you would have Him fill
you, obey Him. If you believe that an impulse is from the Spirit of
God, follow it out. Never trifle with conscience–especially you that
are beginning life. Mind you set the tune for the whole of your life by
the tenderness of your consciences at the first. When I was a lad I
learned a certain

Truth of God, which my friends and relatives did not know–but I had to
follow my conscience. It looked very egotistical and wayward for a lad
to set up his opinion against older people. But I could not help it.

I saw Believer's Baptism in the Bible and therefore the highest Law
compelled me to be obedient to that ordinance. I looked over the matter
again and again, to see if it was not so–and I became more and more
assured as to the mind of the Lord. Therefore I was not disobedient. It
is true that it was suggested to me that if I did follow out my views,
I should have to cut out quite another career for myself from the one
anticipated. But I could not help that. I must do the Lord's will,
whatever might be the consequences.

From that day to this I have never had cause to regret my youthful
decision. The trial was severe at the time, but it was beneficial to my
whole character. It taught me to follow the Truth of God wherever it
might lead me and to expect the Spirit of God to abide with me in so
doing Since then I have often come to a place where interest has gone
one way and principle has gone another. But it has not cost me
half-a-minute's thought which way should be my way. I must follow what
I believe to be right and true, and preach what I believe to be God's
Word. And I will, by God's Grace, do so, whether men hear or whether
they ignore.

Young Men, young Women, mind you begin straight. Do not begin with
truckling and making compromises. If you take your hats off to the
devil today, you will have to take your shoes off to him soon. And
by-and-by you will become utterly his slaves. Be strong for the Truth
of God. Quit yourselves like men. Stand fast for God and holiness. You
will be filled with the Spirit if you are obedient to Him.

If you are filled with the Spirit of God and wish to retain His
gracious Presence, speak about Him. Note this, "Be not drunk with wine,
wherein is riot. But be filled with the Spirit; speaking." That is a
curious word to follow so soon. The Holy Spirit is not a dumb Spirit.
He sets us speaking. "Speaking to yourselves." It is a poor audience.
But still it is a choice audience if you speak to your Brethren.
"Speaking to yourselves in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord."

Beloved, when the Spirit of God fills you, you will not only speak, but
sing. Let the holy power have free course–do not quench the Spirit. If
you feel like singing all the while, sing all the while and let others
know that there is a joy in the possession of the Spirit of God which
the world does not understand but which you are feeling and to which
you wish to bear witness.

Oh, that the Spirit of God would come upon this entire Church and fill
you all to overflowing! May the members of other Churches that are here
tonight take home fire with them and set their Churches on flame! The
Lord bless you, for Jesus Christ's sake! Amen.